2024 Album-A-Day: Week 9

I've neglected to mention this until now, but I've been making a playlist featuring one song from every album I've listened to from this project, and you can listen to that here (but it's Tidal so you probably won't)

February 26th: Tidal and When the Pawn etc. by Fiona Apple

This was not my first Fiona Apple rodeo. I listened to Fetch the Bolt Cutters when it came out, and a few times since, so I decided that for this project, I'd listen to her first two albums. Tidal, an album with the unique quirk of having the same name as the service on which I'm listening to it, is a great example of a debut album where the artist has a clear idea of who they want to be from the beginning. She's great on the piano, as exemplified by "Shadowboxer" and "Sleep to Dream", a unique singer, see "Criminal", and one hell of a songwriter, ergo "Carrion". When the Pawn... not only has a title longer than the average cobra, it's also a development on the sound of the first album. You can tell right from "On the Bound" that she's gotten a lot better at everything I just mentioned, and she does not let up with songs like "Limp" and "Paper Bag." I really liked both of these albums. I'll probably listen to Extraordinary Machine and The Idler Wheel... as part of this project.

February 27th: Power, Corruption, and Lies by New Order

I liked Unknown Pleasures, so it stands to reason that I like the band that is mostly just Joy Division without Ian (R.I.P). It's got the spacey synths and the chorus-ed guitars of JD, but with a heavier emphasis on the electronics. "Age of Consent" and "The Village" and "Ultraviolence" are all fun gothic dance tunes, and I might like Bernard Sumner's voice more than I like Ian's. The only slightly weird thing is that "5 8 6" is almost exactly the same song as "Blue Monday" which isn't on the album for some reason.

February 28th: Ys by Joanna Newsom

This was my first time with a Joanna Newsom album. The first thing I noticed is that her voice is halfway between Regina Spektor and Björk. The second thing I noticed is that this is an album of 5 really long songs, which appealed to my prog-rock side. This album is full of luscious orchestral arrangements and poetic lyrics. I really like "Emily", "Sawdust & Diamonds", and "Cosmia", but I think I need to spend more time with this album to fully get it. Also, she's married to Andy Samberg, which I would never have guessed.

February 29th: Congratulations by MGMT

This album was a reaction to the pop success of their first album, moving away from the stadium-friendly quasi-ironic electro-pop (I really like hyphens) into a more psych-rock and prog-rock direction, which they do really well. "It's Working" begins by clarifying "this is not Oracular Spectacular, if you came here expecting 'Kids' again, you will not get it." "Flash Delirium" is one of my favorites, especially because of its simultaneously comical and haunting music video. Despite their resolve to stop being mainstream-friendly, they still have great hooks, such as "Song for Dan Treacy" and "I Found a Whistle" and "Brian Eno", and on other songs going full prog, the best example being "Siberian Breaks". It doesn't have the same single power as Oracular Spectacular, but it's more coherent as a full album.

March 1st: If You're Feeling Sinister by Belle and Sebastian

I was disappointed to learn that nobody in the band Belle and Sebastian is or ever has been named Belle or Sebastian. Despite this, I really like this album. Simultaneously fanciful and sardonic lyrics meet with upbeat jangly guitar-pop with songs such as "Get Me Away From Here, I'm Dying" and "Judy and the Dream of Horses". I like Stuart Murdoch's vocals on songs such as "The Stars of Track and Field", "Seeing Other People" and "The Boy Done Wrong Again". I'm open to listening to more Belle and Sebastian.

March 2nd: Kick by INXS

I've never been super into INXS, but I might want to reconsider that. This album has all of the greatest tropes of 80's music: massive synths, uber-processed guitars, funky drumbeats and basslines, big catchy choruses. "Need You Tonight" and "Never Tear Us Apart" remain eternal classics, "New Sensation" and "Calling All Nations" both got stuck in my head, and "KICK" is the kind of big synthysing-along that I love.

March 3rd: The Holy Bible by Manic Street Preachers

I know this band has a fraught history, but I don't really know all of that fraught history. The only thing I know is that Richey Edwards went missing in 1996 and is presumed dead. After listening to this album, I am now more inclined to correct that blind spot. The lyrics are clearly politically charged, but I don't understand all of the context of the political state of Cardiff, Wales in the 90s. What I do understand is these kick-ass riffs. "Faster" alone wins me over. I also love the time-signature flips on "Yes", the vocals on "She is Suffering", and the thematically appropriate samples that open most of these songs. I really need to do my due diligence to get into this band.